Subjects in Process: Diversity, Mobility, and the politics of Subjectivity in the 21st Century

by Michael A. Peters, Alicia De Alba

Subjects in Process investigates the human subject in the first decade of the twenty-first century in relation to changing social circumstances and belongings. The concept of 'subjectivity' in the Western tradition has focused on the figure of the autonomous, self-conscious, and rooted individual. This book develops a conception of the subject that is nomadic and fluid rather than grounded and complete. Written from a perspective that takes account of globalisation - and the pressures that it places upon individuals and communities - this book draws upon Nietzsche and the post-modern thinkers that followed him. Arguing that a modern conception of the subject must be one based on cultural exchanges and transformations, this book is sure to provide new insights for anyone concerned with or interested in the identity of the individual now and in the future.

238 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

Michael A Peters is Distinguished Professor at Beijing Normal University, China, and Emritus Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He remains attached to the University of Waikato as a research professor affiliate in the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research. He was professor of Education at the University of Waikato for seven years (2011-2018).

He is the executive editor of the journal, Educational Philosophy and Theory, and editor of three international ejournals, Policy Futures in Education, E-Learning and Digital Media, and Knowledge Cultures.

His interests are in education, philosophy and social policy and is a lifelong Fellow of the New Zealand Academy of Humanities. His research interests are in educational philosophy, theory and policy studies with a focus on the significance of both contemporary philosophers (Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Heidegger) and the movements of poststructuralism, critical theory and analytic philosophy to the framing of educational theory and practice.

He is also interested in philosophical and political economy questions of knowledge production and consumption. His major current projects include work on distributed knowledge, learning and publishing systems, and ‘open education’.

He has written over eighty books, including The Global Financial Crisis and the Restructuring of Education (2015), Paulo Freire: The Global Legacy (2015) both with Tina Besley, Education Philosophy and Politics: Selected Works (2011); Education, Cognitive Capitalism and Digital Labour (2011), with Ergin Bulut; and Neoliberalism and After? Education, Social Policy and the Crisis of Capitalism (2011).

He has acted as an advisor to governments on these and related matters in Scotland, NZ, South Africa and the EU. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of NZ in 2010 and awarded honorary doctorates by State University of New York (SUNY) in 2012 and University of Aalborg in 2015.